11 Super Pink Cocktails to Sneak Into the Barbie Movie

For legal reasons, this is a joke.

By
The Serious Eats Team
The Serious Eats Team
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Published Jul. 17, 2023
View of a cosmopolitan

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

If you haven't seen all the Barbie hype recently, you are absolutely, without a doubt, living under a rock. Barbie Mania is sweeping the globe thanks to the release of Greta Gerwig's film,Barbie, and Serious Eats is not immune. While not everyone on the team grew up playing with Barbies, if there's one thing this publication approves of and embraces, it's maximalism, and that's a philosophy#Barbiecoredoesn't shy away from.

According toVariety,Barbie"follows the world’s most famous doll, who sets off for the human world to find true happiness after being expelled from Barbieland for being less than perfect." In honor of Barbie and her search for happiness, we present to you eleven of our best pink cocktails. Like Barbie, they're surprisingly complex, suitable for a wide range of palates, and (often) hot pink. Make them for brunch before you hit the theater, or feel free to sneak them in...you have our blessing!

  • The Pinkest Gin

    A coupe glass holding a pink gin drink.

    Serious Eats / Autumn Giles

    一个简单的即兴重复一个锐利的增强d with quince syrup and a couple dashes of Peychaud's bitters for a bright, fruity, complex pink drink.

  • Pink Lady

    A Pink lady cocktail in a flared coupe glass.

    Serious Eats / Maggie Hoffman

    Like its close relative the Clover Club, the Pink Lady is built on a foundation of gin, with lemon juice for tartness and egg white for body, along with a note of grenadine (or, in some Clover Club recipes, raspberry syrup) to both sweeten and color the drink. But the Pink Lady needs additional fortification, and that's where a mild dose of applejack comes in, which lends more depth and backbone to the drink.

  • The Hot Pink

    A round glass holding The Hot Pink, a neon pink cocktail. There is ice in the glass as well.

    Serious Eats / Autumn Giles

    This neon pink drink was created using a savory shrub with beets, celery, and horseradish. The finished product has just a touch of heat from the horseradish, while the celery provides a light, fresh component to the heavier root vegetables. Choose a bold gin like Tanqueray for this cocktail, which can stand up to the aggressive flavors in the shrub.

  • Pink Greyhound

    A round rocks glass holding a Pink Greyhound cocktail, with a sprig of rosemary and ice in the glass.

    Serious Eats / Heather Arndt Anderson

    Fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice at brunch? Yes, please! A little vodka? Oh, why the hell not! This cocktail is, for all intents and purposes, a greyhound, but with fresh-squeezed pink grapefruit juice, rosemary simple syrup, and locally-distilled vodka (if you can get it). It's a real dandy!

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  • Thyme for a Salty Dog

    A top-down shot of a Thyme for a Salty Dog cocktail, with a sprig of thyme across the top of the glass.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Salty Dogs are greatwith gin, but we like to use vodka in this rendition—its more neutral flavor lets the interplay of bitter grapefruit and woodsy thyme take center stage. The cocktail's signature salt-coated rim gives the tart, herbal combo a welcome jolt.

  • Clover Club

    A side shot of a Clove Club cocktail.

    Serious Eats / Robyn Lee

    Originally named for a Philadelphia social club with roots tracing back to the 1880s, the Clover Club was, for decades, one of the marks of the sophisticated boozer, a manly drink (despite its pink hue) shaken by the bucketload in the wood-paneled lounges of the early 20th century. Let just say Ken would approve!

  • Gin Daisy

    A classic Julep cup holding a Gin Daisy cocktail, with a blackberry and a large sprig of mint in the cup.

    Serious Eats / Maggie Hoffman

    A Daisy cocktail is essentially an icy-cold sour with soda water added; the base could be pretty much any spirit. It's often served in a Julep cup, though it's not as straight-up boozy as a classicJulep. We particularly like a Daisy made with rich Old Tom gin and high-quality grenadine. The resulting drink is bright and tart, with delicate herbal and berry flavors and a pale pink color.

  • A Minnesota Good-Bye (Cranberry French 75)

    A glass bottle next to two tall cocktail classes holding A Minnesota Good-Bye, a variation on a French 75 cocktail made with cranberry.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    "A Minnesota good-bye is a standoff in manners; basically, no one can leave first for fear of being rude. It's annoying," says Nathaniel Smith ofSpoon and Stablein Minneapolis. But, he adds, "during the holidays, it's welcome, to spend those last few minutes with cousins, a few more hugs with family, making plans with friends. This cocktail is for celebrating, and taking those extra few minutes with loved ones."

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  • The Upgraded Paloma

    Two glasses holding the Upgraded Paloma cocktail, on a table with some lemons and oranges in the background.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    ThePalomais one of the great warm-weather drinks, easy enough to make in the stupefying heat of summer and as refreshing as it gets: tequila, grapefruit soda, and a squeeze of lime juice in a glass, with enough ice cubes to make the drink sweat all over the table. This version requires a little more effort, but is definitely worth the trouble.

  • The Jasmine

    茉莉花鸡尾酒的侧覆喇叭有限公司upe glass. There is a lemon peel on the edge of the glass.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Don't let the color fool you. With its gentle pink hue, the Jasmine may look as bright and cute as a Hello Kitty armband, and its unassuming appearance and sprightly color has no doubt appealed to many drinkers of the once-ubiquitousCosmo. But unlike that candy-colored alcopop, the Jasmine is all business, its alluring tint supplied not by the Cosmopolitan's innocuous red cranberry juice but by the intensely garnet Campari, an Italian aperitif famous for its powerful bitter flavor and its racy advertising campaigns.

  • Cosmopolitan

    Two Cosmopolitan cocktails.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    The Cosmopolitan is a cultural touchstone because once upon a time, Dale DeGroff got one into the hands of Madonna at the Rainbow Room and it becamethedrink to be seen with. Then HBO and SJP, of course, made the drink ubiquitous. The Cosmopolitan is, simply stated, the best Vodka Sour around.